Kung Fu?

[Adam Of Avalon]

Does anyone practice Kung-Fu? If so, do you find that it inhances your spirituality? Your life in general? Tell me about it.

[StormChaser]

Tae Kwon Do a few years ago, but I moved and was unable to find another place like Master Yu's.

It was SO enhancing though for my spirit and spirituality. When I got to spar with him, when we did crunches and he walked on us, or helped us push ourselves beyond what we thought our stretching capacity was.. these things that sound so basic.. were so uplifting. It made me feel like i could grow wings and fly if i wanted. I was in control, and yet someone was there showing me how to be that way guiding me to myself.. like turning ona light in a dark room. If i could find another man like Master Yu for a teacher, I would gladly start taking TKD again.

[Rain Warrior]

I am back to Taekwon-Do for about a year and a half now.
I went to another club and had to start from the begining:(
It really strenghtens you, both physically and spiritually.

[flar7]

member of the "Wild Bunch" which is a branch(as in competes) of
the Kenney Karate Association from the Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do
school. Kinda long aint it? Wild Bunch, means that you have
participated in tournament, You can be in the association and not
compete, which is fine, you just dont have a wild bunch patch.

Very good for you phsically and spiritually. I have NEVER been in
a fight since I started TKD, and before I had had a few. It so
strengthens your self discipline that it affects your bearing and
fights just dont come your way. Doesnt mean you couldnt jump
in to aid someone, just that trouble like that seems to avoid you.

Also, if you've noticed, a serious fight where one member knows
martial arts and the other does not is over VERY quickly.
We are taught that TKD strikes are meant to take your opponent
out with one blow. A skilled opponent, capable of blocking, will
require a little effort. LOL

We have one of the coolest promotion tests I have ever seen.
fairly usual until you get to green and above. At green in a
sparring match(promotion) you begin fighting multiple opponents.
2 or more at the same time. The numbers increase based on your
rank. At 1st Brown, when testing for black, you fight all the lower
ranks for warm up. Then you fight browns. These all progress to
multiple opponents. And finally the best part, Black belt candidate
(1st brown) fights 1 black belt, then 2 at once, then 3, then 4, and
finaly 5. It is a test of heart. You arent expected to win, only to
try, also protect yourself and attack. Dont just stand there and
take it!

man, I love TKD, thats why I rambled so much about it! LOL

[StormChaser]

Oooh that sounds sooo wonderful. I'd love to be part of a testing system like that. Master Yu's was quite different. It was based on personal evolvement, involvement and yes sparring eventually. for the first two\3 belts its all about you. After that it's about your abilities in the ring so to speak.

What you described sounds right up my ally though. Wow

Happy dreams *smiles*

[MammaStar]

I meant to post this last week, oh well. :rolleyes:

My son takes Kung Fu. He is at the solid red sash rank right now. I can't say how it affects him spiritually, however, as his Mom I can tell you how much his self confidence and sense of self has improved over the years because of his involvement with Kung Fu. He's a large boy, and taking Kung Fu has made him feel good about himself. Since he started school (he's 9 now). he hasn't gotten into any fights. It seems for a demonstration, he showed the kids a form he knew, since then, no one messes with him. :D

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Very interesting discussion..

I would love ton enroll in a karate, TKD, or KF class. It would be a great skill and experience in my view.

[Tranquility]

yes i do, and i think it really does.. See there is a big debate about this because.. most teachers are not in it to teach you, they are in it for the money, if they do not get physical with you, usually they are phonies, they don't want to hurt you so you dont lose money.. My teacher was Sifu Vincent Lyn, he was from China and was even in some movies... He was one of the few true teachers.. he would push you beyond your limits, make you cry to stretch ( a w hile back, now i use Qi Gong to elimate pain ) anyhow..... My teacher truly does focus on the spiritual side, his shirts that we wear say, mind body spirit, spirit is what must be inline first, hope that helps...

[st0rm]

Originally posted by st0rm
Nice, but can u fight?

I've studied tae kwon do for three years (two hours everyday) and placed third in a national tournament twice, but I couldnt fight. My fancy moves didnt help when someone swung a baseball bat at me (I learned this the hard way). About a year and a half ago my right knee got f*cked up and I had to quit tkd, since then I've tried everything from judo and karate to wingchung kungfu and ninpo. Then I understood, a martial art cant teach u how to fight (atleast it couldnt teach me).

It wasnt until I had been beaten, stabbed, cut and almost shot I learned how to fight...

heh, quoted myself :D

[materra]

I study Qigong...Nothing very fancy really, helps heal folks, me in particular. Has some defense forms but is a quiet disipline. It has influenced me in everything. I don't even think the same anymore. As for my spirituality... indeed yes..it does things for it. And my magic...well that has changed completely too.

[Tranquility]

Yes, one of the hardest things about martial arts, is that only through experience you learn how to counteract and how to fight, which is also why i like the studio i go to, we practice sparring with eachother, painful things too, i almost had my wrist broken and arm about 6 times heh, now i know how to do those though